Today was a good day - I both introduced Ted to PG, and we had a grand time playing a nail-biter. It was the most entertaining PG scenario I've played in my short career.

I should perhaps first qualify this AAR. I do not own Burning Tigers. I downloaded and printed the map and scenario sheet from the APL website. I did not, however, download and print the counters. Instead I substituted counters from Kursk South Front, which I do own - SS for German Wehrmacht, and Guards for RKKA. Although the SS and Guards are stronger than the units on the scenario sheet I don't think the substitutions unduly disrupt the scenario design, but it's only fair to bring it to your attention.

My Germans advanced carefully on the farm. Artillery and mortars of both sides were trading shots as the German infantry closed on forward-deployed Soviet infantry and HMG. It seemed to be going too slowly though so I aggressively advanced as soon as I disrupted the HMG. The StuG dodged crossfire shots from the Soviet ATR and artillery gaining the Germans an upper hand in an assault hex in the field just north of the farm.

Unfortunately, what I thought was going to be a quick assault bogged down. In spite of superior firepower and numbers the Soviets got lucky and disrupted all the assaulting Germans. Soon there wasn't enough time to recover these units, complete the assault, advance on the farm, and initiate another assault. I had no choice but to advance on the farm with the only other good-order platoon and leader who could get there just in time on turn 10.

Softening up the farm one last time I finally got lucky and both took out the Soviet on-board arty and demoralized the other remaining farm defenders. SS leader and infantry advanced but were disrupted in the first fire in spite of the defender's limited firepower. It came down to the recovery roll on turn 10 for the demoralized defenders. Both failed and the Soviets lost control of the farm to the disrupted SS Schutzen infantry.

This was a morning coffee game. It played out well. The Germans were able to use the Stug to great effectiveness effectiveness. The end result was a quick and bloody German victory. Not a whole lot of finesse involved, just go get the farm.

My first PG scenario I have played. Great learning scenario. Got some rules wrong but had a lot of fun - close contest with a narrow German win.

This was only my second full scenario. It was very well balanced with dramatic swings of fortune - mostly due to less than wonderful morale rolls (although one time the Soviets rolled three twos and a row during a recovery activation defending the State Farm). Game was a draw because ithe May State Farmwas being assaulted by the Germans and the Soviets barely hung on. I did a sort of Eastern end around, using other units and light woods as cover. I have owned a few PG games for years but now that I am retired I have time to fully get into this series.

4th edition PnP demo scenario from the AP website.

Soviet infantry and machine guns setup in five hexes surrounding the farm (dug-in); mortar and ATR in the farm; artillery two hexes east of the farm alert for the approach of the German StuGIII. The Russian game plan was to stay dug-in and prioritize recovery actions as much as needed to maintain good order and delay the German assault as long as possible. Also to get an AT shot at the German AFV if possible, and maybe even a crossfire with the ATR. If that AFV is out of action, the German assault is much tougher.

Germans have only 10 turns to advance down the board, set up for an assault, and take the farm. German plan was to advance the infantry and MG units without delay (leaving the HMG to catch up). Once within three hexes, German OBA and mortars were to concentrate on one corner of the Soviet perimeter. As soon as disruption or demoralization occurred in the intended assault hex, the air strike was sent in (missed), and the assault was launched from the apex of the target hex (where Soviets INF from only one hex could target the assaulting units). Led by the StuGIII with INF following, the assault cleared the perimeter hex, but the scenario time ran out before the farm could be assaulted.

It looked doubtful whether the Germans could have taken the farm, as the assault on the perimeter left them with very few good order units.

4th edition handles fields differently: they are limiting terrain that does NOT block LOS. Seemed strange to be able to see beyond the fields, but not be able to see a unit in a field unless within 3 hexes. These would be standing crops, so it seems counter-intuitive that they do not block LOS (as they do in 3rd edition) but I wanted to give 4th edition a try as written.

There was no provision for smoke in the scenario parameters; but it would help the Germans by allowing them to screen their advance and minimize the harassing OBA called in by the Soviet spotter in the farm. Might be worth adding for a little different flavour.

At 1000 on July 7, 1943, elements of the German 292nd Infantry Division moved forward to secure a small hamlet called 1st of May State Farm. Soviet forces from the 307th Rifle Division were based in and around the hamlet, with infantry, an HMG and an anti-tank rifle in the hamlet itself. Infantry were situated on the road east of the farm, while an SMG platoon was on the road directly west of town to provide flank coverage. In the woods SE of town, a 76.2 mm artillery piece and an 82 mm mortar provided coverage of the open steppe on the German left flank, an excellent killing field with open line of sight. As the Germans progressed, they were subjected to pesky bombardment fire from the artillery and mortar, but remained out of range of the other Soviet weaponry, which occasionally slowed their progress and disrupted an orderly advance. Once they were close enough to the hamlet to draw fire from the Soviet HMG, they called in artillery, and were able to spot the flanking units around the farm area. Those on the east road were within range of two German 81 mm mortars situated on a hilltop northeast of the hamlet; this fire ultimately demoralized the group which had to leave the flank open and withdrew south to the shelter of the woods. By 1145, the Germans, along with a StuG IIIG, were approaching the hamlet in force, and at 1215 an assault team consisting of Lt. Kraumholtz, two infantry platoons (one of whom took a step loss due to first fire by the Soviet resistance) and an engineer platoon moved in to secure the farm. However, the Soviets held them off despite having a demoralized Captain, two infantry platoons (both with a one-step loss) and a disrupted HMG platoon. The bedraggled Soviets managed to secure a victory based on the need for the Germans to control the hex by 1230.

This scenario seems to be a tough one for the Germans to succeed unless optional smoke is played, as this would help the Germans to advance over the open ground without the delays caused by having to recover disrupted troops. Since this scenario is currently being distributed by APL as a “free playset” without any optional rules, I played it that way; however, the Kursk: Burning Tigers boxed game does allow for smoke to be used, and that gives the Germans a much better chance of achieving the historical outcome described in the K:BT scenario book, i.e.” Slowly the Germans pried the determined Soviets from the farm buildings and houses of the collective farm.

Simple quick scenario to while away a few hours on a wet English summers day. This 10 turn quickie had a German force attacking from the North mainly INF with a STUG platoon in support against dug in Soviet troop around the state farm in the title. In my game nothing much happened for the first 3 turns as the German troops advanced carefully moving the STUG out of the line of sight of the Soviet 76.2 field pieces. The Russian battery commander then tried to move his weapons into range and line of sight of the German armour and promptly got an accurate barrage dropped on him. First blood to the Hun. However the German foot units met accurate HMG and MTR fire as they advanced and were soon hugging the ground, with both platoons and their leaders disrupted and demoralized, a Soviet counter attack was destroyed but time was running out for the Germans and when friendly fire disrupted more of the attacking INF it was obvious that the farm would stay firmly in Russian hands for the foreseeable future. A final attack was easily batted away by the Red Army and at scenario end losses were three steps each and with no ground gained by the Wehrmacht a easy Russian victory. This scenario is a quick, simple "take the town" one with little room for much in the way of tactics. Ideal then for the beginner or anyone wanting a quickie.

Recently I picked up the demo game from Avalanche Press, and having finished reading the rules, I was able to try the game out. Things started out slowly, but as I went I began to grasp the flow of the game and familiarize myself with some of the charts, so thing sped up. This was my first proper wargaming and solo gaming experience, and I definitely enjoyed it, so a boxed game purchase is likely in my future.

The game itself was exciting until the end. The Soviets dug most of their infantry and an ATR in among the fields north of the farm, with an HMG covering the right flank and an SMG platoon close to the farm itself, acting as a reserve and covering the artillery and mortar units. The Germans amassed their infantry units in front of the main Soviet defenses and moved in to assault them from the beginning, with a StuG platoon offering support close behind. The German artillery and mortars did a poor job of softening up the Soviets, and as a result the main German thrust quickly bogged down (pesky first fire!). The StuG did move in and turned the tide of one of the two assaults in favor of the Germans, but due to the sacrifice of the HMG to buy time and the continued resistance of a sole infantry platoon in the face of three assaulting German infantry units, the Germans were unable to reach the farm in time. Even if they had reached it, there were Soviet units that had escaped at the expense of the HMG ready and waiting for them. The Soviet infantry platoon that held three German platoons in check for 7 entire turns was definitely the hero unit of the battle, although poor German rolls and ineffectiveness of the German artillery and Luftwaffe certainly helped.

Looking back, I definitely could have approached the game better from the German side, but I just wanted to get a feel for the how the game plays, and I did just that. Next time I will try a more tactical approach. Overall it was a fun experience, and I look forward to playing more Panzer Grenadier in the future.

I played this free scenario again because I wanted to give the system another go after letting it drop off my radar before. This time I had a sounder strategy as the Germans, bypassing the initial Soviet defenses and heading for the farm. Thanks to some good initial bombardments, the Soviet AT gun was neutralized and their defenses softened up, and after a bloody assault the farm was firmly in German hands. The Soviets had significant morale problems, and their attempts to reinforce the farm and relieve the pressure on it were largely unsuccessful due to German artillery and the presence of a secondary German infantry force that kept the Soviet units outside the farm busy. It was good fun, and I found myself wanting to find out what would happen next, but it was also rather lopsided, and having played this scenario twice, it was a bit stale. I still haven't decided whether I will jump into this system or not.

Author	elfram2
Method	Solo
Victor	Soviet Union
Play Date	2020-09-07
Language	English
Scenario	KRBT025

one special rule was different between this version and the 4th edition demo. It didn't really come into play due to set-up.